Subway Taps BBDO For New Ads, Says Jared Won’t Hurt Brand

Subway has hired Omnicom Group’s BBDO to come up with a new marketing strategy as the sandwich chain tries to reverse slumping sales.

The need for a new approach intensified in July when federal authorities raided the home of Subway’s longtime pitchman Jared Fogle, who agreed to plead guilty to child-sex charges last week. Subway cut ties with Mr. Fogle, who has been the face of the company for the past 15 years, appearing in over 300 commercials.

The 50-year-old company said Mr. Fogle’s legal problems had nothing to do with the agency review or the need for a new creative direction. Instead, Subway said the change was part of a company-wide “brand revitalization process” that it initiated to reverse a sales slump.

Sales at its U.S. restaurants dropped last year for the first time in more than a decade, falling 3.3% to $11.9 billion, according to restaurant research firm Technomic Inc.

BBDO, which pitched against several other ad agencies for the job, is replacing Boston-based MMB, which has created Subway ads for about a decade. The new campaign isn’t expected to debut until early next year.

Subway said it will reduce its reliance on pitchmen to promote its brand, and will instead put more emphasis on the company’s products.

The decision to reduce the use of pitchmen in its advertising “was made independent and prior to the whole episode with” Mr. Fogle, said Chris Carroll, chief advertising officer at Subway, who returned to the company in May after leading marketing for Subway from 1999 to 2005. Mr. Carroll’s brother, Tom Carroll, is chairman of BBDO’s sister agency TBWA Worldwide.

Besides using Mr. Fogle, a man who became famous for losing weight by regularly eating at Subway, the sandwich-maker has for the past few years featured a long list of athletes in its “Famous Fan” ad campaigns. Paid endorsers include L.A. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin and Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Mr. Carroll said he doesn’t believe that Mr. Fogle’s legal imbroglio has hurt the Subway brand.

“It’s a short term event,” he added. “Consumers understand that there is a difference between him and us.”